Student Project Could Kill Digital Ad Targeting

An anonymous reader sends this quote from Ad Age: "[Rachel Law's] creation, called 'Vortex,' is a browser extension that's part game, part ad-targeting disrupter that helps people turn their user profiles and the browsing information into alternate fake identities that have nothing to do with reality. People who use the browser tool, which works with Firefox and Chrome, effectively confuse the technologies that categorize web audiences into likely running shoe buyers, in-market auto buyers, or moms interested in cooking and football. ... It's a bit like the ad blocker extensions of yore, except it scrambles information to trick ad targeters, all in service of an addictive game deemed 'Site Miner,' which allows players to fish for cookies visualized as sea creatures. Players can gobble up cookies Pac-Man style, creating a pool of profile information that has nothing to do with their actual web behavior. ... Vortex features a profile switcher that people can use and share to take on a new identity while browsing the web. 'It's a way of masking your identity across networks,' she said."

Comments

Re:I fully support this!

[sdsucks]

Updated, high quality, and free? Sure, to employ what 1 individual? Showing ads for himself (Uh, store link much, son)? In a highly marketable position?

I love XKCD, but you are out to fucking lunch if you think that business model applies to even 1% of the websites you visit on a daily basis. Open your fucking eyes and unclog your ears you fucking idiot.

Do you think your favourite financial information website can just start selling coffee mugs and stickers to pay their traffic and licensing fees? Or that that model will work for newspapers? Or even a place like Slashdot? Fuck some people are goddam stupid, and you are one. Once again, proving the point, that the term "nerd" is in no way associated with the term "intelligent".

Seriously, son, fuck off and learn something. Your kind makes me fucking sick.